On Thin Ice: Winter Sports and Climate Change - David Suzuki ...

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on thin ice: winter sports and cliMate change 1917: snow slope climb to peak Today: climbers are met with a rock wall changing alpine route in the canadian rockies: mount athabasca in 1917 and today photo: athabaska glacier, Jasper national park, ca. 1917; dow williams source: library and archives canada, rg88m, acc. 88986, box 54, vol. t-50466, neg. #w-295-17-18, Winter recreation cultural events and tourism Winter tourism and cultural events are important to Canadians for both economic and social reasons. 101 From the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympic Games to the upcoming 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver to New Brunswick’s World Pond Hockey Championships to Quebec City’s Carnavale d’Hiver to Ottawa’s Winterlude festival, these cultural events have shaped Canada’s identity, attracted millions of tourists, and provided important economic and social benefits. Today, Canada generates an estimated $5 billion a year and supports more than 110,000 jobs from winter tourism. 102 Vancouver will host the 2010 Winter Games with a vision to achieve “a stronger Canada whose spirit is raised by its passion for sport, culture and sustainability.” 103 But future greenhouse gas emission levels will dictate the magnitude of global warming and will determine whether Canada’s winter sports can be sustained at all, no matter how strong our passion for skiing, hockey, and other winter sports. If global warming is allowed to intensify, it will become more and more difficult, and eventually unfeasible, to organize and host these important events. Ottawa region’s Winterlude104 Founded in 1979, Ottawa’s Winterlude is one of the largest winter festivals in North America, with outdoor ice skating, ice sculptures, tobogganing, and cross-country ski racing. In 2000, Winterlude attracted more than 1.5 million tourists and contributed more than $143 million to the capital region’s economy. The most popular Winterlude attraction is Ottawa’s famous Rideau Canal Skateway – the world’s largest outdoor ice-skating rink. (See: Ice-skating impacts.) 19 Canada generates an estimated $5 billion a year from winter tourism.
photo: Québec winter carnival 2009 20 exposure of winter sports to gloBal warMing Weather conditions determine the success of Winterlude in attracting visitors. Cool temperatures and adequate snowpack are required to maintain ice and snow quality and festival activities including ice sculptures, outdoor skating, snow slides, and cross-country ski racing. The effect of warm weather can be disastrous. In 2002, above-average winter temperatures delayed the opening of the Rideau Canal Skateway and resulted in one of the shortest skating seasons on record, lasting only 34 days. Only half as many ice skaters took part in the festival as in previous years. Researchers have determined that average winter temperatures colder than -8ºC produce skating seasons of at least 50 days, whereas warmer winter mean temperatures exceeding -5ºC lead to much shorter seasons. Temperatures between -10 and -20ºC are considered ideal for supporting the winter activities and ensuring good attendance. High emissions would close the door on Winterlude Climate models under a high-emission future project that by late this century, the number of days cool enough in February (during the 21-day event) to maintain the foundation of Winterlude’s ice and snow conditions would be reduced dramatically. The models project that after 2020, it would be challenging to maintain the festival’s cross-country ski races unless adaptive measures were taken to set the ski track using less than the 15-centimetre regulation snow depth. (See: Cross-Country Ski section.) Under mid- to high-emission scenarios, the projected natural snow depth would be less than 10 centimetres during the February festival by 2050, a decrease of more than two-thirds. Researchers also estimate that under mid- to high-emission levels, the 2,000-participant cross-country ski race held in late February could have too little snow to operate by as early as 2050. This could mean inadequate snowfall that would force the cancellation of cross-country ski racing and likely many other festival activities. By 2080, under the highemission scenario, the average maximum temperature is expected to rise during February from -5ºC now to +4ºC later this century, cutting the days suitable for preserving ice sculptures in half and possibly even eliminating snowmaking as even an option for snow slides and skiing. By 2080, this severe warming could reduce the skating season on the Rideau Canal to just one week. However, researchers estimate that a low-emissions future would help protect the climatic conditions needed to host the winter activities of the festival, if combined with some adaptive measures. For example, the low-emission scenario would continue to support an ample snowpack depth during Winterlude, likely averaging more than 15 centimetres throughout this century. This would help save festival activities such as cross-country ski racing and the snow slides. The low-emission scenario could also save more than 70 per cent of the existing outdoor skating season on the Rideau Canal over this century.
Page 1 and 2: on thin ice w i n t e r s p o r t s
Page 3 and 4: On Thin Ice: Winter Sports and Clim
Page 5 and 6: iv executive suMMary Key findings i
Page 7 and 8: photo: Jusu toivonen See page 34 fo
Page 9 and 10: About this report Opportunities to
Page 11 and 12: Science of Climate Change 2 introdu
Page 13 and 14: canadian winters have experienced t
Page 15 and 16: Climbers are finding that rapid gla
Page 17 and 18: ISk OF GLOBAL WArmING TO EurOpEAN S
Page 19 and 20: 0 Ski season (days) 250 200 150 100
Page 21 and 22: If Canada acts in concert with the
Page 23 and 24: 14 exposure of winter sports to glo
Page 25 and 26: new brunswick’s world pond hockey
Page 27: photo: lindy bily 18 exposure of wi
Page 31 and 32: 22 solutions A recent UN report out
Page 33 and 34: Annual CO2 emissions from fossil fu
Page 35 and 36: whistler blackcomb ski resort recen
Page 37 and 38: to get drier and deeper snowpack co
Page 39 and 40: 30 the will to protect Spurring Act
Page 41 and 42: whistler recently installed a susta
Page 43 and 44: photo: vision Quest 34 Recommendati
Page 45 and 46: some ski resorts are building and g
Page 47 and 48: 38 Conclusion Future of winter spor
Page 49 and 50: 40 resources resourCes Play It Cool
Page 51 and 52: 42 references Latifovic, R., and D.
Page 53 and 54: 87 World Glacier Monitoring Service

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